Promotional device



Oct. 14, 1969 w. c. WALTERS PROMOTIONAL DEVICE Filed Dec. 22, 1967 United States Patent 3,471,956 PROMOTIONAL DEVIQE Wilfred C. Walters, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Sperling & Schwartz, Inc.,

Rockw'lle Centre, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 22, 1967,'Ser. No. 692,973 Int. Cl. (50% 11/04; A63b 71/06; A63f N18 US. Cl. 40-70 Claims ABSTRAOT OF THE DISCLOSURE A promotional device having a portion formed from and releasably attached to a first ply and rotatably attached to a second ply. The first ply releasable portion is formed with a plurality of removable portions therein for producing window openings to expose normally hidden symbols carried by the inner face of said second ply upon the rotation of said releasable portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to games and contests used to promote products. These promotional devices have included the matching of separately distributed corresponding halves of a particular design and the collecting of cards having various arrangements thereon until a desired word is spelled by the combination of these letters. In general, a sample of the promotional device, such as a sheet of paper bearing half of a design or a card bearing a combination of letters is distributed with each sale of the product to be promoted. Prizes are awarded to purchasers who collect winning combinations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a promotional device having at least two plies is provided, the first ply having a portion thereon releasably attached thereto and rotatably attached to the second ply. This first ply releasable portion is formed with at least one movable portion for producing a window opening to expose information imparting symbols carried by the inner face of the second ply upon release and rotation of said first ply releasable portion. One or more of these removable portions can be located on the periphery of the first ply releasable portion or wholly within said releasable portion to provide a variety of games and contests.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new promotional device adapted to be utilized in a variety of games and contests.

Another object of the invention is to provide a promotional device for use in games and contests which can carry advertising indicia on its outer surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a prornotional device which can be distributed to purchasers of the product to be promoted and others without further enclosures, and which must be manipulated by the purchaser to determine if the purchaser has won a prize.

A further object of the invention is to provide a promotional device wherein normally concealed information imparting symbols are revealed by the rotation of a wheel having windows cut therein.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a promotional device which can be formed from a single blank having advertising indicia and information imparting symbols printed thereon.

3,471,956 Patented Oct. 14, 1969 Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is bad to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a blank from which one type of promotional device constructed in accordance with the invention can be formed;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the promotional device formed from the blank of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the promotional device of FIG. 2 after use by a purchaser;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along the lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a second type of promotional device after manipulation by a purchaser.

DESCRIPTION OF THE IREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 5, the promotional device 10 depicted is preferably formed of a single substantially rectangular blank of heavy paper or cardboard as shown in FIG. 1. The blank is folded along fold line 12 to form first ply 14, which in the instant embodiment is the top ply and second ply 16 which in the instant embodiment is the bottom ply. First ply 14 has a disk-shaped portion 18 preferably die-cut therefrom along line 20. Spaced portions along the periphery of disk-shaped portion 18 remain uncut to form tongues 22 for normally retaining said disk-shaped portion in the plane of first ply 14 of the promotional device. Thus, disk-shaped portion 18 is releasably attached to the first ply 14.

Spaced peripherally on disk-shaped releasable portion 18 are a pair of removable portions 24 and 25 preferably die-cut along lines 26 and 27. Located centrally in said releasable portion 18 are a pair of wing-shaped tabs 29 and 30 formed by slits 32, 33 and 34. Tabs 29 and 30 are fadapted to be forced through aperture 36 located centrally in second ply 16 after the blank is folded along fold line 12. In this position, the ends 38 of tabs 29 and 30 extend below second ply 16, abutting against the outer surface 40 of said second ply, to form an axis of rotation for releasable portion 18 upon its release from first ply 14.

The first and second plies are adhesively or otherwise secured together along their periphery but the securing means does not extend between the' disk-shaped releasable portion 18 of the first ply 14 and the opposing area of the second ply 16.

Th .promotional device is distributed to purchasers of the product to be promoted and others with the first and second plies secured to each other, the tabs 29 and 30 forced through aperture 36, the disk-shaped releasable portion 18 attached to first ply 14 and the removable portions 24 and 25 in place. The purchaser removes said removable portions forming windows 42 and 43, and releases the releasable portion 18 of the first ply by tearing the tongues 22. By rotating the disk-shaped portion 18 about the axis formed by tabs 29 and 30, information im-.

parting symbols 44 carried by the inner face of second ply 16 are displayed through the window openings 42 and 43. In the embodiment of the invention pictured in FIG. 1, these information imparting symbols take the form of amounts of money. One game utilizing this embodiment would pay a purchaser a prize equal to the amount displayed in the windows provided the same amount is displayed in both windows. In the sample pictured in the drawing, the consumer would win ten dollars. The information imparting symbols carried by the inner face of second ply 16 according to the invention, can take any form including letters, numbers or other symbols as indicated by the particular contest or game that is being played.

The outer surface of the first and second plies, or of any of the series of plies if more than two plies are utilized, can carry advertising indicia and instructions for using the promotional device as generally shown at 46. The advertising indicia and instructions 46 and the information imparting symbols 44 will preferably be printed on the blank before assembling the promotional device.

The promotional device according to the invention can be formed with a releasable portion 18 having any number of removable portions which when removed will form window openings along the periphery or wholly within the face of said releasable portion 18. Thus, FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the promotional device 50 according to the invention having one window 52 along the periphery of the releasable portion 54 of the first ply and two windows 56 and 57 located wholly within the base of said releasable portion. FIG. 6 shows promotional device 50 after the removable portions have been removed and the releasable portion 54 of the first ply has been rotated by the purchaser, revealing the information imparting symbols 58 carried by the inner face of the second ply.

A promotional device according to the invention can be formed with any combination of peripheral and internal window openings in the releasable portion, permitting one or more games or contests to be played with a single device. Thus, in a promotional device having three peripheral window openings and one internal window opening, prizes can be awarded if two or three of the peripheral windows have matching symbols displayed upon the rotation of the releasable portion, in addition, a second game can be based on single or groups of letters displayed in the internal window opening, a prize being awarded to a purchaser who collects a group of the promotional devices which together spell a specific word. The particular arrangement of windows in the drawing are given by way of example and not limitation.

While the rotational axis of the releasable portions 18 and 54 of the first ply of the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawing is formed by the tabs 29 and 30 displaced through the aperture 36 in second ply 16, such a rotational axis can also be formed according to the invention by a grommet connecting said releasable portion and second ply while permitting the rotation of the former.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing is formed of one substantially rectangular blank and has a releasable portion 18 which is disk-shaped. These shapes are shown merely by way of example and not limitation. Further, the promotional device according to the invention can be formed of two separate sheets rather than a single blank.

The promotional device according to the invention may be distributed to purchasers buying a particular product which is promoted thereby or to persons patronizing a particular retail establishment. Depending on the particular game or contest that is being utilized, a specific portion of the distributed promotional devices will, when manipulated by the purchasers or others, reveal a winning combination. Thus, for example, in the particular embodiment shown in FIGS. I through 5, only a portion of the promotional devices distributed will have the same symbol in both windows, thereby entitling the holder to a prize equal to the amount displayed in the window.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitinglsense.

What is claimed is:

1. A promotional device comprising a first ply having inner and outer faces and a portion thereof releasably attached thereto; and a second ply overlapped by said first ply and having inner and outer faces, the area of said first ply inner face surrounding said first ply releasable portion being secured to said second ply inner face, said second ply inner face carrying normally concealed information imparting symbols opposite said first ply releasable portion, said first ply releasable portion being rotatably attached to said second ply and being formed with at least one removable portion therein for producing a window opening to expose said information imparting symbols upon release and rotation of said first ply releasable portion.

2. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said first ply has die-cut lines defining said releasable portion and further die-cut lines within said releasable portion defining said removable portion.

3. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said promotional device is formed of a single blank, folded to form said first and second plies.

4. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said second ply is formed with an aperture therethrough opposite said first ply releasable portion, said first ply releasable portion having at least one tab formed therein, displaceable through said second ply aperture and adapted to slidably engage said second ply outer face to form an axis of rotation for said first ply releasable portion upon its release.

5. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said first ply releasable portion is disk-shaped and rotatably attached, at its center, to said second ply.

6. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said first and second ply outer faces carry advertising and instructional matter.

7. A promotional device as recited in claim 1, wherein said first ply releasable portion is formed with at least one removable portion along its periphery and at least one removable portion spaced inwardly of its periphery for producing a plurality of window openings whereby said promotional device is adapted for a variety of promotional contests.

8. A promotional device as recited in claim 7, wherein said first ply releasable portion is formed with a plurality of removable portions spaced along its periphery and at least one removable portion spaced inwardly of its periphery for producing window openings to expose said second ply inner face upon the release and rotation of said first ply releasable portion.

9. A promotional device having at least two overlapping plies comprising a first ply having an inner and outer face; and a second ply having an inner and outer face, said first ply having first die-cut lines defining a releasable portion and second die-cut line defining at least one removable portion in said releasable portion, said first and second ply inner faces being substantially securing together along their periphery, said releasable portion being rotatably connected to said second ply, said second ply inner face carrying normally concealed information imparting symbols disposed to be visible upon the removal of said removable portion and the release and rotation of said releasable portion.

10. A promotional device as recited in claim 9, wherein said second die-cut lines define at least one removable 5 6 portion abutting said first die-cut lines and at least one 3,163,426 12/1964 Ruderian 273-142 removable portion spaced inwardly of said first die-Cut 3,321,858 5/1967 Bailey 40'--70 lines.

References Cited ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 ARNOLD W. KRAMER, Assistant Examiner 809,294 1/1906 Fry. 'U.S.Cl.X.R. 1,541,707 6/1925 Hanback 273-142 273-139 3,103,080 9/1963 Desmond 4070 

